the Trinity

Seeing Is Believing

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8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” – John 14:8-14 ESV

Jesus seems to be trying to make a not-so-subtle point with His disciples.

“believe also in me.” – vs 1

“Believe me…“ – vs 11

“whoever believes in me.” – vs 12

In attempting to prepare them for His death and departure, Jesus stresses the need for their continued belief or trust in Him. During the last three years, He has given them ample evidence regarding His identity as the Son of God. By virtue of His many miracles and messages, Jesus has revealed His power and authority, given to Him by God. These men have witnessed never-before-seen signs and wonders, from the turning of water into wine to the raising of Lazarus from the dead. From the safety of their boat, they had watched Jesus walking on water. They could recall the many occasions when Jesus had debated with the Pharisees and had been amazed at the boldness and authority with which He spoke. He had repeatedly left His learned adversaries speechless and seemingly powerless to refute His words.

But as the day of death drew closer, Jesus knew that these men were going to have their faith in Him tested like never before. Even though He had repeatedly told them exactly what was going to take place in Jerusalem, His death was going to catch them completely off guard. And the last 24 hours had been an emotional roller coaster for these men, as they had gone from the ecstatic high associated with His triumphal entry to the despair in hearing Him announce His betrayal by one of their own.

The days ahead were going to be dark. The spiritual battle that had been taking simmering under the surface for the last three years was going to explode on the scene in dramatic fashion. The steadily increasing anger of the Pharisees and their fellow members of the Sanhedrin would finally reach its boiling point, manifesting itself in a virtually maniacal call for the death of Jesus.

But knowing all this, Jesus had told them, “Do not let your hearts be distressed. You believe in God; believe also in me” (John 14:1 NET). He wanted them to keep believing – in spite of the circumstances. Things were going to get worse before they got better, but they could still trust Him. Yes, their world was about to be rocked and they would be tempted to believe the worst, but Jesus wanted them to keep their minds focused on who He was and all that He had done. He was the Son of God, the Messiah, the King of Israel, the bread of life, the source of living water, the Good Shepherd, and the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. None of that had changed. And nothing that was about to happen would alter the reality of Jesus’ identity or keep Him from accomplishing His God-ordained mission. In fact, all that was about to take place would be according to the Father’s divine plan and in keeping with His sovereign will.

And Jesus assured His disciples that His relationship with the Father would be unaltered by anything that was about to happen. The subsequent events surrounding Jesus’ death were going to provide a pathway to the Father. That is what Jesus meant when He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 ESV). But the reality was that Jesus had already revealed the Father to them by virtue of His presence among them. As Paul states, Jesus was “the visible image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15 ESV). And John had opened his gospel with the assurance that Jesus was the very manifestation of God.

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known. – John 1:18 BSB

But when Jesus told His disciples “From now on you do know him and have seen him” (John 14:7 ESV), Phillip blurted out, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us” (John 14:8 ESV). He didn’t get it. After three years of intimate contact with Jesus, he still failed to grasp the full reality of His identity as the Son of God. Phillip, like the rest of the disciples, believed in Jesus, but he did not understand that to see Jesus was to see God. When Jesus had said, “The Father and I are one” (John 10:30 NLT), the full import of His words had escaped them.

So, Phillip did what any good Jew would have done if given the opportunity, he asked that he might get a glimpse of God. He expressed the same desire that Moses had communicated to God in the wilderness: “Please show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18 ESV).

But Jesus gently rebuked Phillip and, in doing so, revealed a vital truth regarding the relationship between the Father and His Son.

“Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?” – John 14:9 NLT

Notice Jesus’ emphasis on His identity. “You still don’t know who I am.” After three years of walking with Jesus, Phillip and his companions were still unconvinced of Jesus’ deity. Yes, they believed He was from God but were having difficulty in believing Him to actually be God.

Jesus’ claim to be one with God was the fuel that had inflamed the hatred of the religious leaders against Him. In an earlier confrontation with them, immediately after He had healed a man on the Sabbath, He had stated, “My Father is working until now, and I am working” (John 5:17 ESV). And John records the response of the Jewish leaders:

This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. – John 5:18 ESV

The Jewish religious leaders had clearly understood what Jesus was saying, and they rejected it as nothing less than blasphemy, a crime worthy of death. But the disciples never uttered a word. They had heard the same statements from the lips of Jesus, but John never provides any insights into what they thought about His claims.

But Phillip’s request speaks volumes. It clearly shows that the disciples were still wrestling with the concept of Jesus’ deity. So, Jesus confronted their unbelief.

“Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.” – John 14:10 NLT

The relationship between Jesus and His Father was essential. It was the key to all that was about to take place. Jesus wanted them to know that the events they were about to witness would be the sovereign will and work of God. Jesus was doing exactly what His Father had told Him to do. And every word He had ever spoken had come directly from the throne of God.

As Jews, Phillip and his fellow disciples had been steeped in the concept of monotheism – the belief that there was only one God. They had been raised on passages like those found in the book of Isaiah:

“I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God…” – Isaiah 45:5 ESV

“I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.” – Isaiah 44:6 ESV

“I alone am God. There is no other God— there never has been, and there never will be.” – Isaiah 43:10 NLT

The concept of the Trinity was nowhere on their radar screen. They had no way of understanding what Jesus was saying. Jesus was revealing to them a truth that had escaped their biblical scholars and seemed to contradict a basic tenet of their faith system. But the deity of Jesus was vital to all that was about to happen. It was His identity as the Son of God that would make His pending death effectual, as the sinless Son sacrificed His life on behalf of sinful mankind.

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. – 2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT

And Jesus pleaded with His disciples to believe that He and the Father are one. No matter how difficult it was for them to grasp this concept, it was essential that they recognize it as true. And yet, knowing that they would continue to struggle right up until the bitter end, Jesus encouraged them to believe what they would see. If they still couldn’t believe with their ears, they were going to have ample opportunity to believe with their eyes.

“Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, but if you do not believe me, believe because of the miraculous deeds themselves.” – John 14:11 ESV

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Grace, Love and Fellowship.

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Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. – 2 Corinthians 13:11-14 ESV

How do you close out a letter like this one? For 13 chapters, Paul has had to defend his ministry, confront the Corinthians about their lack of giving, encourage their continued spiritual growth, and expose the false apostles who were undermining his authority and impacting his work. Now, as he wraps up his letter, he does so with five simple statements. First, he tells them to rejoice. He doesn’t explain what it is they are to rejoice about, but he most likely is referring to their position in Christ. They are children of God, heirs of His Kingdom, recipients of His grace, and possessors of His Holy Spirit. They have much about which to rejoice. Yet it is so easy to lose sight of all that God has done for us and to allow ourselves to live ungrateful, joyless lives. The life of the believer should be marked by joy and rejoicing. But it is a choice. We must decide to express to God our gratitude for all that He has done for us. And even if we should find this life difficult and full of trials, we can rejoice in the fact that our future is secure and that all God has promised for us is guaranteed. We have an eternity ahead of us, free from sin, pain and sorrow. Even if we must suffer in this life, we face a suffering-free future because of our faith in Christ.

Secondly, Paul tells them to “aim for restoration.” This could actually be translated, “set things right” or “put things in order.” This interpretation seems to be more appropriate, because Paul has been pointing out some issues within the church that were not as they should have been. He was concerned about their lack of giving for the saints in Judea. He was worried about the impact the false apostles had had on their faith. Paul wanted them to get their proverbial act together and pursue spiritual maturity. It is quite easy for believers in Christ to find themselves distracted from their primary God-given directive: spiritual maturity. Yes, we are to witness. We are to share the gospel with those who have not yet heard. But our transformed lives are one of the greatest testimonies to the veracity of the gospel we can give. Disorder and disunity in the church are antithetical to our calling as the children of God. Selfishness and self-centeredness are not to be the characteristics for which we are known. As Paul had written them in his first letter, they had a habit of living as if they were still part of the world.

Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life. I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? – 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 NLT

Paul wants them to put things in order, to restore things to the way God wanted them to be.

Next, Paul tells them to “comfort one another.” Actually, this might be better translated, “be encouraged” or “be comforted.” This seems to fit in with what Paul said earlier in his letter.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us. – 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 ESV

Paul wanted them to find encouragement in the content of his letter. He knew that their situation was far from perfect. He realized that their pursuit of spiritual maturity was anything be easy. So he wanted them to be encouraged and comforted. God was not done with them yet. And as they were comforted by God, they would be better able to live in unity and peace with one another. It was a common practice in the early church to greet one another with a kiss. It was a sign of their unity and common bond in Christ. But Paul insists that they must greet one another with a holy kiss. It must be without hypocrisy and not just for show. A holy kiss can only come from holy lips. You can’t tear down a brother in Christ, then greet him with a kiss as if nothing was wrong. James writes, “Sometimes it [the tongue] praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!” (James 3:9-10 NLT). Holiness is the key to true unity and peace.

Finally, Paul closes his letter with a salutation that alludes to all three members of the Trinity: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” Grace, love and fellowship. These three things are critical to the health and well-being of the church. We exist because of the grace of Christ, His unmerited favor, made possible by His death on the cross. And we are to extend that grace to all those within the body of Christ.

Jesus’ death was the direct result of God’s love for us. “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8 NLT). God loved us so much, in spite of our sinfulness and rebellion, that He sent His own Son to die on our behalf. And we are to love one another in the same selfless, sacrificial way.

Finally, as believers in Jesus Christ and recipients of the love of God, we have been given the Spirit of God. We are inhabited by the Holy Spirit, who makes our fellowship with one another possible. He has given each of us spiritual gifts designed for the benefit of the rest of the body. He empowers us with a capacity to love like Christ loved. He produces within us fruit that is designed to minister to one another: “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23 NLT). Our unity is Spirit-empowered, not self-motivated. Our love for one another is made possible by the Spirit of God, not our own self-will.

Grace, love and fellowship – made possible by the Son, the Father and the Holy Spirit. We have all we need for living together as the body of Christ, as sons and daughters of God.

 

 

Day 27 – John 5:1-47

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The Son of God.

John 5:1-47

“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!” – John 5:39 NLT

In this passage, Jesus encounters a man who had been sick for 38 years. Every day, this man somehow made his way to the pool of Bethesda, near the wall of the Temple. The waters were thought to hold healing properties and, when they were stirred up, if you could be one of the first to get in the water, you would receive healing. This man’s problem was that, after 38 long years of suffering, he had no hope of ever getting in the water in time. Jesus asked him a question with a very obvious answer. “Would you like to get well?” (John 5:6 NLT). To which the man replied, “I can’t, sir, for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me” (John 5:7 NLT). In response, Jesus tells the man, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” (John 5:8 NLT).

And immediately the man is healed and does just as he is told. It was an amazing moment. This man’s life was changed forever. But John reminds of us one small detail in the story. It is the Sabbath. And when the Pharisees see this man “working” on the Sabbath by carrying his mat, they are appalled. And when they find out Jesus told him to do so, they begin to confront Jesus about breaking the Sabbath. But it would be Jesus response to them that would turn their anger into thoughts of murder. Jesus said, “My Father is always working, and so am I” (John 5:17 NLT). Here lies the greatest disconnect between Jesus and the religious leadership of His day. He claimed to be the Son of God, and in so doing, He claimed to be deity. According to their standards, that was blasphemy, a crime punishable by death.

And this is still the disconnect most people have with Jesus today. Most have no problem believing that Jesus lived or that He was a powerful and influential teacher. Many have little or no struggle with the idea of Him doing miracles. But where the problem comes up for most is with the concept of Jesus as the Son of God. This remains a stumbling block for most people today. Even for many church-going, Bible-believing, so-called Christians today. Like the Pharisees, they search the Scriptures, thinking that in them they will find eternal life (John 5:39). In other words, the secret to having a right relationship with God is through discovering His requirement as found in His Word. So they read the Scriptures trying to decipher the rules and requirements God has set out so that they can keep them and make God happy. But Jesus reminds us, “the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life” (John 5:39-40 NLT). Jesus’ miracles were simply to act as proof of who He claimed to be. They were evidence of His deity. The power He displayed came from God and so did He. In fact, Jesus makes it clear that God had given Him the power to provide eternal life to any and all who would believe that He was God’s Son. “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life” (John 5:24 NLT). It was essential that they believe that Jesus was sent from God and was the Son of God. And not only has God given Jesus the life-giving power to provide eternal life to those who would believe He came from God, He has given Him the power to judge all men at the end of the age. With a word from Jesus, all the dead will rise and face judgment – some to face eternal life and some  eternal death. The Pharisees saw the miracles of Jesus. They heard the powerful teachings of Jesus. But they could not handle the claims of Jesus to be God. That was beyond their ability to comprehend or consent to. And as a result, they missed the point. They were so busy trying to work their way to eternal life that they missed the very one who could give them eternal life.

Jesus was and is the Son of God. He is the second person of the Trinity. He was God’s means by which the world might be saved and men might be reconciled to a right relationship with Him. But it is essential that men believe Jesus was who He claimed to be. The miracles and messages of Jesus mean nothing if they do not point us to His deity. The words of Scripture will mean nothing if we do not find within them the message that Jesus is the Son of God, sent to save the world from the judgment of God. Jesus was more than just a man. He was more than just a prophet. He was more than just a faith-healer. He was more than just a teacher. He was the Son of God. Yet Jesus can still say to so many, “For I have come to you in my Father’s name, and you have rejected me” (John 5:43 NLT).

Father, it was Jesus’ claim to deity that became the stumbling block for so many. They couldn’t comprehend it, so they simply rejected it. They couldn’t explain it, so they refused to believe it. But to those who believed through a simple act of faith, He gave eternal life, and I am so grateful to have been included in that number. Thank You. Amen.

Ken Miller

Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org